Faith & Politics--Do they mix?

I grew up with the belief that politics and religion don't mix. This past year I have started to take a more active role in politics, mainly due to the presidential campaign. Justin and I were volunteer officer managers for the Obama Office in Lexington during the KY primary. Through this experience we were encouraged to attend our local precinct meeting. We surprisingly walked away elected committee members. Due to my involvement and newfound interest, I have followed the campaign closely and tried to stay up to date on political matters. I also got involved with several activist groups mainly due to my belief in the Millennium Development Goals. Throughout this journey, I have been trying to better understand the complexities of politics. I mean, what is really best for our country, for the global community, for me, for others? There are so many issues and stances, viewpoints and perspectives, advice and expert opinion, media biases and political agendas. As I muddle through what I believe regarding politics, I find it hard to keep my opinions compartmentalized. How is it feasible to keep my Christian principles separate from my political ideology? Or is it possible to be a political Christian?

While these thoughts have been stewing in my head, there have been recent events that brought them to the forefront of my mind; various conversations with friends, KRM's fundraiser which is associated to the book "Jesus for President," and our recent topic of politics at Communality. Yep, for the past two Sundays we have been talking about politics at house church. It has been interesting and surprising to see how ingrained the belief of not speaking of political opinions in a religious setting is in my brain. I automatically get a little squirmy when the subject is broached. Nonetheless, I am still intrigued. I want to know how to be a holistic Christian, which also means being involved (or not involved if feel so led) in politics.

Tonight we were tagged with the task to write a political Christian creed in 5 minutes. Right. I am still thinking about this request and what my version would say. I will probably still be thinking about it for several weeks, months, possibly years. I feel that I jumped into the political scene rather quickly and would now like to take time to re-evaluate and build a stronger foundation of well-thought out beliefs. It's not that I have changed my mind about any issues or candidates. I am still an Obama supporter with a liberal mindset, but I also don't want to just be a stereotype. I want to really examine why I feel the way I feel. I want to learn from others with different opinions. I want to be challenged. And I want to figure out what fitting politics into my faith looks like.